Mechanically-produced negative and method of making same.



G. W. SCRITSMIER.

MECHANICALLY PRODUCED NEGATIVE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.16, 1912.

1,224,328., Patented May 1, 1917.

IV/NESSES V N TOR.

A TTORNE Y8 {Q V @6-WW M r ent ies.

GEORGE W. SCEITSMIEB, 0E CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

menses.

Specification of letters Eatent.

' I Application filed August 16, new. arts! Ito. $15,860.

To all whom it may concern? Be it known that I, GnoRen W. Scarre- MIER, a citizen of the United States, res1ding at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mechanically- Produced Negatives and Methods of Ma ing Same, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in what I term mechanically produced negatives, by which I mean negatlves for photographically printing upon a sensitized surface, as for example, in the manufacture of rinting plates for reproducing exact facsimiles of typewritten text.

In my inventlon these printing negatives are produced mechanically, as dist nguished from photographic negatives, which, when produced, are used in the same manner as my mechanically produced negatives.

A principal object of my nvention 1s to produce such negatives for commerclal use in the manufacture of printing plates whlch shall'be an exact reproduction, both as to size of letter and sharpness of outline, of typewritten text.

Another object of my invention is to produce such negatives mechanically, as for example, directly upon an ordinary typewriting machine, thereby eliminating the expense and delay of photograph1c reproduction and also making possible more exact facsimile reproductions than are possible where the negative is produced photographically.

Obviously also, my invention eliminates all requirements of photographic skill and makes the production of such negatives wholly independent of photographic conditions as to light, apparatus, conditlon of plates, conditions of chemicals, etc.

My invention also relates to the method of making such negatives.

These and such other objects as may hereafter appear are obtained by my invention, which consists primarily in a negative consisting of a transparent backing provlded with an opaque coating through which coating the characters to be reproduced have been-mechanically cut to afford a free passage for light through such out surfaces.

More specifically, my invention consists in such a negative produced by mechanically cutting the light openings through a waxy coating which has been treated so as to be opaque and which is carried by a transparentbacking.

Still more specifically and in its preferred form, I produce such a negative by coating a tough, flexible, transparent backing with a Waxy coating which in turn has been treated with an opaque coating, the light openings bemg then cut through the opaque surface and the waxy coating, the cutting bemg preferably done by impact of the type in any usual form of typewriting machine.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of my invention; and

Fi 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Flg. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Like characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures.

For purposes of illustration the details of these drawings are largely exaggerated.

A indicates the translucent and preferably flexible backing, B is the coating of wax superposed thereon and adhering thereto, G is an opaque coating such as a layer of printers mk, D, D are light passages forced throng? the opaque and waxy coatings C and as by driving a type face through the same, thereby forcing up around said light passages the shoulders, such as E, E.

Any suitable material may be used for the backing. A wide range of substances may be used to provide the opaque coating.

11 the preferred embodiment of my invention, however, I proceed as follows:

For a foundation or backing I use a thin sheet of a tough, flexible, transparent material, such, for example, as the celluloid which is commonly used in the manufacture of photographic films. I subject this sheet to a gentle heat and While so warmed I coat it with a waxy coating of equal parts of commercial beeswax and paraffin wax melted together and poured upon the celluloid sheet while it is still warm. By keeping'the backing warm I insure an even flowing of'the melted wax over the entire surface. of the backing until the wax has been spread into an even coat! A very thin coat of wax is all that is necessary; This coat is then set by cooling the coated backing in any suitable manner.

I then coat the wax surface with an opaque ink. Ordinary printers black ink, preferably ink having wax in its composi- Patented May 1, i917.

. in the manner common in the printing art.

The sheet so prepared is then put aside until the coating of ink is sufiiciently dry to permit of the handling of the sheet in the subsequent steps.

Although the sheet so prepared consists, first, of the tough, flexible backing, second, the waxy layer or coating, and third, the opaque coating of ink which, if it contains wax'in its composition, will have more or less amalgamated with the waxy coating, these layers are so thin that they cannot be separately distinguished by the ordinary vision, the sheet as an entirety is sufiiciently flexible and tough for purposes of subsequent handling, and the coatings upon the backing are closely adherent and will not come off in subsequent handling.

The sheet so prepared. may then be inserted in any ordinary typewriter machine, the ribbon having been removed, and the operator may then write any desired matter on the coated surface of the prepared sheet. type will cut through the coating, removing or forcing aside the coated surface down to the transparent backing, but the coating is of such a character that it will closely adhere to the backing except where the faces of the type cut through the coating and contact with the face of the backing, thereby producing sharp-cut light passages through the opaque coating, of the exact size and outline of the characters which cut these openings.

With some variations in the composition used for the coating and with varying conditions of dryness of the ink, it may be desirable to interpose a very thin sheet of paper or the like between the type and the treated sheet. When this is done a part of the coating corresponding to the face of each type will be removed from the prepared sheet and transferred to the overlying sheet of paper during the operation of cutting the light passages through the prepared sheet.

The negative having thus been. produced will be applied to a sensitized surface with the coated surface of the negative contacting with the sensitized surface, whereupon printing will be done photographically upon the sensitized surface in the usual manner. For example, if the sensitized surface is upon a metal plate the typewritten matter will be printed upon this sensitized plate, which will then be treated, in a manner familiar in the art, to produce an intaglio printing plate. I

However, the entire negative is so thin that it will be practical to print from it with either surface in contact with the sensitized surface.

Preferably, the negative is produced while the ink is still in a partially plastic condi- When this is done the hard metalv no tendency to objectionably adhere to the type but tends rather to be crowded aside when the face of the type isforced through it. So also, while it would come within the broad contemplation of m invention to mix the wax with any suitab e substance, such as lamp black, so that the waxy coating itselfwould be opaque, I prefer the procedure above described because it requires less of the opaque material, it avoids changing the proper coating of the backin Whlle I have described the preferred practice of my invention, it should be under- I stood: first, that while, ordinarily, a tough,

flexible, transparent backing is preferable, it is not essential that the backing shall have all of these characteristics, but it is only essential that the backing shall be sufficiently transparent and shall be suitable for handling and to carry the coating with which it is treated. So also, wherever I mention the use of celluloid I contemplate the use of any of the various celluloid-like materials. Second, my invention is-not confined to the use of wax of any kind as a coating, nor to the use of a waxy coating underlying an opaque coating. The backing may be coated with any sufliciently adherent waxy, plastic or semi-plastic coating which may be cut ithrough as above described so as-to produce the consistency of the wax and it facilitates be forced aside or removed so as to provide a light passage through the coating, of the design and size of the characterproducing such light passage. For example, if the light passages be out while the coating is sufiiciently dry for this purpose but is yet sufficiently soft or plastic, some of the well known kinds of printers ink might constititute the sole coating used.

While I have conveniently referred to the backing as being transparent, it will be understood that for the purposes of my inven-' tion it is only necessary that it shall be translucent to sufliciently permit the passage of actinic light rays for purposes of photographic printing upon any suitable sensitized surface.

I claim: 1. A translucent backing provided with a waxy opaque coating,-said coating having mechanically formed light passages impressed therethrough.

2. An article of the class described consisting of a translucent backing provided with a plastic coating, said coating having an opaque coating, said two coatings having characters impressed therethrough to the translucent backingto provide light passages.

3. An article of the class described comprising a flexible sheet of celluloid-like material provided with an adherent waxy coat ing, and an opaque coating overlying said waxy coating, said coatings having typewritten characters impressed therein and extending therethrough to the backing to provide light passages, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. Aprepared sheet for the production of negatives of the character described, consisting of a flexible translucent backing having a plastic coating which in turn has an opaque coating thereover and partially amalgamated therewith, said coatings adapted to have light passages impressed therethrough to said backing.

5. A negative of the character described consisting of-a flexible translucent backing provided with a plastic coating which is treated with an overlying coating of an opaque material of a composition to enter into and amalgamate with said plastic coating, said coatings having light passages impressed therethrough to'said backing.

6. The process of producing negatives for photographic printing which comprises coating a heated, translucent backing with a thin layer of Wax-like material in heated condition, cooling the same until the Wax has become set, applying an opaque coating to the wax, and then impressing typed characters through said coatings to produce light passages through said coatings.

7 The process of producing a negative for photographic printing which comprises coating a heated, flexible, translucent backmg of wax, and producing light passages through said coatings by typewriting thereon so as to force the typed characters through said coatings.

8. The process of producing negatives for photographic printing which comprises coating a heated, thin, flexible, translucent backing with a heated, waxy coating consisting of substantially equal parts of melted paraffin and beeswax, allowing the same to cool until the wax is sufliciently set, coating the wax with an opaque printers ink, allowing the ink to sufliciently dry, and then removing portions of said coatings to provide light passages therethrough in the design of typewritten characters by typewriting upon the coated surface of the backing while the coatings are still sufliciently soft to permit the typed characters to be forced through the coatings to the backing so as to provide light passages through the coatings of the design of the type faces by which such light passages are produced.

9. The process of producing negatives for photographic printing which comprises covering one surface of a translucent backing with an opaque coating and then removing portions of said coating to provide light passages of the design of typewritten characters by placing a thin, flexible sheet over the coated surface of said backing, after the coating has sufliciently dried, and typewriting upon said superposed sheet while said coating is still sufliciently soft, whereby the typed characters will be forced through said coating -and will cause portions of said coating to be removed to provide light passages of the desired design.

GEORGE W. SCRITSMIEB.

Witnesses:

R. A. HAMILTON, R. C. THORESON. 

